


Shivering Asleep

by Welfycat



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Community: angst_bingo, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-08
Updated: 2011-05-08
Packaged: 2017-10-19 04:16:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/196773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Welfycat/pseuds/Welfycat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sharing a hotel room was always a little difficult. Sharing a hotel bed with Spencer Reid was a feat all on its own.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shivering Asleep

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Angst Bingo; Prompt: Trapped

Aaron was very nearly asleep when he felt Spencer's entire body shudder. It was one thing to be sharing a hotel room while they were on a case, and an entirely different thing to be sharing a hotel bed. To start with, Spencer was not a peaceful bed companion, he thrashed in the night and the previous night Aaron had narrowly escaped being kicked and instead had wound up with a very sharp elbow shoved against his ribs. It was giving Aaron a whole new insight on why Spencer was single, because he didn't know how anyone could get any decent amount of sleep while sharing a bed with Spencer.

Morgan had teamed up with Rossi as soon as it had been announced that they were sharing rooms, before they'd even discovered the bed thing, and Aaron wasn't about to even think of asking to share with Emily or JJ. He supposed he could have ordered Rossi to switch with him, but Rossi would have been equally as crabby without getting any sleep and Aaron suspected that trying to share a room with Morgan would have been equally as unrestful. He'd considered trying the two-seater couch for all of two seconds before he remembered that he still wanted to be able to walk in the morning, and sleeping on a hotel room floor wasn't even in consideration.

Spencer's body shuddered again, the tremors traversing the queen sized bed that, in theory, should have allowed both of them to sleep comfortably without running into each other. Aaron turned his head, his eyes having already adjusted to the dark, and took a long look at Spencer. He was curled up on his side facing away from Aaron, his spine curved and his knees brought up close to his chest. Aaron wondered if Spencer was some kind of secret contortionist because there was no way Aaron would be able to get his own knees tucked up like that while wide awake. He also wondered how much sleep Spencer actually got on a regular basis, if all of his nights were spent shaking and thrashing until he managed to fight his way awake, or if it was just this case that was bothering him. There wasn't anything about the case he could see at a glance that usually triggered Spencer, but then there was plenty that he didn't know about Spencer. And most of the time, it was little triggers such as smells or sounds, or even a person that stood or walked a certain way that would spark a memory or a nightmare. At least, that's how it worked for Aaron.

When Spencer trembled again, accompanied by a whimper so soft that Aaron wouldn't have heard it if he hadn't been listening for it, Aaron sat up. He knew from the previous night that trying to wake Spencer was both a difficult and a dangerous task; he almost thought that Spencer was more proficient at fighting when he was asleep, his body reacting without his mind getting in the way and over-thinking his movements.

"Spencer." Aaron tried calling to him first, hoping if he could wake him without touching him the reaction might be slightly less violent. "Spencer, wake up," he called, a little louder and more insistently.

Finally, he squared his shoulders and took a careful breath. "Reid," he barked as loudly as he dared, using his best FBI agent voice. This was the voice that would cause any member of his team to freeze in their tracks and obey whatever instruction that immediately followed their name. The only result was Spencer's head ducking down closer to his chest and his shoulders hunching in.

Aaron sat still, waiting to see if Spencer had settled, but within a minute Spencer spasmed again. One of his feet kicked out, pushing the blankets and sheets further away from him. His foot immediately pulling back up so that his leg was once again pressed up by his chest. Sighing, Aaron swung his feet out of bed, trying to decide if he should just put on a pot of coffee and review the case files again. It wasn't something he was truly considering, when he'd turned off the light he felt like he was so cross-eyed that he wouldn't be able to read anything for days, but the idea of being out of bed if he wasn't going to get to sleep was tempting.

A jolt from across the bed startled Aaron back fully awake again, blinking blearily as he realized that he had just about fallen asleep sitting up with his head falling forward into his hands.

Aaron sighed, rubbing at his eyes and realizing that he was going to have to wake Spencer up if he wanted to get any sleep at all that night and be able to function during the day. He assessed the situation like he would any other hand to hand combat situation; his goal was to subdue, and in this case wake up, his opponent while causing both of them the least amount of harm. Aaron had the advantage of weight, leverage, and the opportunity to plan and know Spencer's weaknesses. He also had the advantage of being awake, though, with Spencer he wasn't sure that being asleep was actually a disadvantage. As he identified the target areas, Spencer's feet, knees and arms the most likely to cause problems, Aaron decided that he was more sleep deprived than he'd thought if he was sitting here trying to figure out the best plan of attack on his coworker in the middle of the night.

Spencer's body shook again, a cut off whimper accompanying his head jerking around the side and his arms moving up as if fending off an invisible enemy.

It was for the best, Aaron told himself as he moved into position next to Spencer. Spencer was clearly in the throes of a violent nightmare and needed to be woken up, even if he hadn't been keeping Aaron awake. Aaron nodded, only half believing it, and knelt next to Spencer. He wrapped his hands loosely around Spencer's forearms, the prominent bones feeling deceptively fragile. "Spencer, wake up," he said again, using his grip to give Spencer a little shake.

Spencer reacted instantly, a small yelp of protest the only noise he made as he first tried to pull his arms from Aaron's hands and then started pushing against him. Aaron reacted just in time to prevent from being kneed in the side, using one of his legs to straddle Spencer and hold down Spencer's thighs. He had wanted to avoid pinning Spencer down, guessing that would only making Spencer panic and fight harder, but he wasn't seeing a lot of other options that didn't wind up with one of them getting hurt.

"Reid," Aaron said, keeping his voice as even and authoritative as possible as he tried to prevent Spencer from pulling his arms loose but also not hurt him. Spencer was shifting his hips and torso, his wrists nearly pulling free several times and his legs swinging up to try and pry Aaron off or roll them both to the side. Aaron wryly thought that he should tell Morgan that all the time he'd spent working with Spencer on his hand to hand combat skills had paid off and Spencer could hold his own just fine, as long as he was asleep. He tightened his grip and pushed Spencer's arms up against his chest and shook him a little harder. "Reid, this is Hotch. Wake up. That is an order."

Spencer's eyes flew open, his body still fighting reflexively against Aaron. "Get off, get off!" he shouted, struggling harder.

"Spencer," Aaron said, having to work surprisingly hard to prevent from getting thrown off. "It's just me, you're having a nightmare."

He kept fighting for a few more seconds before the words sunk in and Spencer froze. "Hotch?"

"You alright now?" Aaron asked, loosening his grip and pulling his weight off of Spencer, but not moving away completely.

Spencer nodded, his muscles going limp against the bed as he took slow heaving breaths. "Yeah," he said, "I'm fine."

Aaron doubted that 'fine' entered into it anywhere, but moved back to his own side of the bed and sat back against the headboard. He could feel where Spencer had jammed a knee into his back and figured that it would match the bruise that was blossoming on his side from the previous night. Of course, yesterday he hadn't ever actually gotten Spencer all the way awake. "Do you want to talk about your nightmare?" Aaron offered neutrally.

Spencer gave a low, short laugh, pulling himself up into a sitting position and wiping at his forehead.

Aaron could understand Spencer's reluctance; nightmares were deeply personal, so often a culmination of fears mixed with memories that would illuminate a person's psyche as fast as any profile. "They happen to everyone and it's not surprising considering the cases we see."

"I don't sleep well under blankets," Spencer said, stopping Aaron before he could go any further. When Aaron just turned and stared, Spencer looked down, his face coloring under the scrutiny. "It's fine when I'm awake, and even when I'm just dozing a little. But when I'm asleep, I feel trapped."

"But you sleep okay without the blankets?" Aaron asked, receiving a short nod in return. "What about sheets?"

"Same problem. Usually I just sleep in a sweatshirt and pajama pants." Spencer shrugged his shoulders, not looking up. "I didn't mean to keep you awake. I'm not usually so, restless, when I sleep."

Aaron climbed out of the bed and grabbed onto the blankets and sheets. With a single motion he pulled them all down off the bed so they were laying in a heap on the floor. Usually he would at least bundle them up and dump them on a couch, but he was tired beyond the point of caring. He went to his own bag and pulled out the sweatshirt he always packed for when his clothes got covered in blood or when it was night and they were somewhere very cold.

He got back into bed, handing the sweatshirt to Spencer and arranging his own pillows. It was a little strange not having a blanket to nestle under, but he could live with it.

"Thank you," Spencer said, shifting on the bed as he pulled on the shirt and settled back down.

"You'll sleep alright now?" Aaron asked, acutely aware that Spencer had never answered the question about the contents of his nightmare.

"Yes, sorry," Spencer said quickly.

They were silent for a few minutes before Spencer spoke again, answering a question that Aaron hadn't asked. "I should have told you sooner, it's just, weird."

Aaron blinked, already most of the way asleep now that Spencer was still. "That's alright. We all have our eccentricities." If Spencer answered, Aaron didn't hear it. He drifted off, his mind replaying Spencer saying that he felt trapped by the blankets over and over as his eyes closed. Even with Spencer sleeping, motionless and quiet, Aaron didn't sleep very well that night.


End file.
